Cinema
Long Arm of the Law
省港旗兵
Johnny Mak · 1984
Synopsis
A gang of thieves from mainland China slips illegally into Hong Kong to rob a jeweller's shop. Nothing goes as planned: the shop was attacked the day before by others, and the police, who are watching it, spot the newcomers' car, and they flee, firing as they go. To earn money in the meantime, they accept a contract from a triad: to kill a man, who turns out to be a policeman. The whole police force of the colony then sets off in pursuit of them.
Context
The film draws on the armed robberies that marked Hong Kong in the eighties and employs, according to M+, real delinquents from across the border. Shot on real locations, with a handheld camera, it ends in Kowloon Walled City, a densely populated enclave without administration, since demolished. The Hong Kong cultural services link it to the opening of China, which made the city a destination for people from the North; M+ sees in it the anxiety of the years before the handover. The screenplay is by Philip Chan, and Sammo Hung co-produced the film.
Who it is for
A crime film in Cantonese of about a hundred minutes; shown in France at the Festival des 3 Continents in 2015.
Prizes and reception
It earned Johnny Mak the award for directing at Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards in 1984, and two awards at the 1985 Hong Kong Film Awards.
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